LO likely has shingles, which could spread as chicken pox to anyone who hasn't had chicken pox or gotten the chicken pox vaccine. I haven't had chicken pox or the vaccine. I'm going to get a blood test to see if I have immunity, but in the meantime, does anyone have experience with exposure to the chicken pox virus during pregnancy (and not immune)? I called my OB but the nurse was not very helpful besides suggesting I come in for a blood test.
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I had shingles while I was pregnant (during my 2nd trimester) and my OB wasn't concerned. I took the meds (valtrex?) and had barely any symptoms. No adverse effects to LO.
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It can be pretty scary. How many weeks are you? I'll ask my physician mommy group (I'm a physician but an ophthalmologist so not super helpful in this situation)
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@Amelieisme: I'm 34 weeks. The nurse said it could cause birth defects in the first trimester, but didn't seem to know anything about later pregnancy. Dr. Google had conflicting information about complications in the third trimester.
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@MusicaV: good! In late pregnancy, not likely to affect the baby. Much more worrisome early on. I'll let you know if I find out anything else!
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@MusicaV: did your lo have chicken pox already? Vaccine or natural? Do not touch the open sores of shingles, lots of hand washing and hopefully you can avoid getting the chickenpox. I don't know that I've ever heard of complications to the fetus if the mother gets chickenpox during pregnancy.
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Okay so DS had CP when he was 14 months old and I was 6 months pregnant with my other LO. It wasn't a HUGE deal because I had it, but my son's ped actually said she would be very concerned if I hadn't had it because the baby could get it in utero. Not to freak you out, hopefully you'll be fine!
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@MusicaV: i was 30 weeks with my first and had shingles. Just took the valtrex and everything was fine. No after effects and my son was/is fine
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Here's an answer from OB: unlikely to transmit to the baby past 20 weeks. It is also bad if baby is born within 5 days of mom having infection, but since you are 34 weeks you should be safe. Also, if known exposure you should be given Varicella Zoster immunoglobulin (antibodies) to reduce severity in you as the disease can be pretty severe in pregnant women. I'm not sure how common shingles is in children though. Maybe it's not shingles at all? When did your child start having a rash? The immunoglobulin should be given within 10 days of exposure, ideally within 4 days. When are you going in? Has your LO had chicken pox or been vaccinated?
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I was exposed while pregnant and my mom couldn't remember if I was immune. My docs office said the same thing as @Amelieisme: that it's only really bad news before 20 weeks or within a week of delivery. I was 21 weeks when I was exposed and they took blood to test my titers and would have given me immunoglobulin if I didn't show immunity. Luckily my blood test showed I was immune so it was a non issue.
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@Amelieisme: LO got the vaccine at 12 months. We noticed the bumps yesterday when he complained that his hand hurt. The ped said he's 80-90% confident it's shingles. I'm going to try to get the blood work done tomorrow, assuming I can get in. I mentioned the immunoglobulin (not by name, just that I thought I read there was something that could make it less severe) to the OB nurse over the phone, and she had no idea what I was talking about.
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@MusicaV: my nurse told me if I needed the immunoglobulin I would have to get it from the Red Cross. So it's not shocking that your OB's nurse may not have been aware of it since it's not done at their office.
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@Truth Bombs: I guess I was surprised partly because I left a message, and she called me back about two hours later. Like maybe she would research what to do before she called me if she didn't know?
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@jh524: Thanks. It's going to be tough to avoid touching the sores once they open, since they are on his dominant hand. Hopefully he'll continue to favor his other hand and not get germs all over his toys.
Any suggestions for getting an almost-three year old to wash his hands are also welcome!
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